New Years Revelations
by madam-may
Summary: "Don't make me turn you into a canary again, Longbottom." Fred and Hermione attend a New Years Eve party and after a kiss at midnight, secrets are revealed. ONESHOT


The following story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling and various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

 **Title:** New Years Revelations

 **Prompt:** "Don't make me turn you into a canary again, Longbottom."

* * *

Fred lay on Hermione's bed, watching her hold outfit after outfit up to her body before discarding them onto the growing pile on her desk chair.

"Come back to bed, 'Mione," he said, sitting up. Hermione glanced at him in the reflection of her mirror. She loved the way he looked in her bed, her sheets pooled around his waist, leaving his toned and tanned chest bare.

"I've got to be getting ready, Fred," she replied, throwing a top and skirt ensemble on the pile after a moments deliberation.

"I don't know why we even have to go to this party," Fred grumbled, sinking back into Hermione's pillows.

"It's your party, Fred – you wanted to celebrate New Years!" Hermione cried, turning to face him. Fred looked her over appreciatively. From her time on the run and the training she was currently undergoing to become an Auror, her body was lean and toned.

"I can think of better things we can do here though," Fred said, wiggling his eyebrows at her. Hermione blushed, a small smile on her lips, as she turned back to her mirror.

"We have to go, Fred – it's at your flat, for Merlin's sake," Hermione glanced at her clock. "Speaking of which, George will be needing you to help set up," Fred groaned, knowing Hermione was right. He got up and quickly gathered his clothes, dressing as he did so. Hermione now held two outfits up, her brow furrowed as she debated which dress suited the evening better. Fred pressed up against Hermione, now fully clothed.

"Are you sure you want me to go?" He asked, trailing kisses from her neck to her shoulder. A chill ran down Hermione's spine, desire for Fred rushing through her. "I didn't think so," Fred murmured, having felt Hermione press back against him.

"Oh, stop it, you," Hermione said, grinning. Fred always knew how to make her heart pound.

"Wear the red one," he said, pressing a kiss to her hair before stepping back and apparating away. Hermione considered the dress Fred had recommended, pursing her lips. She couldn't help that her mind wandered over their relationship.

It had begun as an one night stand – both of them had been drunk at a post-war D.A. catch up and had ended up snogging in the back of the pub before apparating to Hermione's flat. It had been the most passion filled night of Hermione's life; Fred had been both surprised and pleased at the young witch's adventurous side. The one night stand had turned into an affair that involved sneaking around, a few little white lies and Fred having to come up with excuses to explain why he wasn't home. Their relationship had bloomed when, after another D.A. catch up, they'd both gotten a bit tipsy and Fred had let his growing feelings slip. Ron had been doting on Hermione all evening and Fred had barely been able to stand it. They decided to keep their relationship quiet, sharing secret dinners at tucked away restaurants and kissing while hiding in the Burrow's bathroom. Fred hadn't been able to resist a bit of mischief, sending so many flowers to Hermione's classes – each under a different pseudonym – that her classmates thought she had at least 10 different suitors.

Hermione laid the dress on her bed, forcing her mind to focus on getting ready.

* * *

Hermione slunk into Fred and George's flat, dressed in the low backed red dress Fred had preferred. The twins' flat was spacious – more spacious than Hermione had anticipated when she had first visited – and was currently filled with people. The lights were dimmed and music played; George flashed Hermione a smile. She guessed he knew about her and Fred but had never said anything.

"Hermione!" cried a voice. Hermione turned to see Neville, Harry, Ron and Ginny standing together. She quickly made her way over to them.

Fred looked up when he heard Hermione's name be called. He saw her instantly. He was glad she'd worn the red dress. Red made her look even more beautiful than normal. He watched Hermione make her way to her friends and be embraced by an overly eager Neville. Fred gripped his glass of firewhiskey tight as Neville released Hermione.

"Fred, are you listening?" Lee Jordan asked. Fred tore his gaze from Hermione, focusing back on the conversation he was having with Lee, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson.

"Yeah, sorry," Fred mumbled, running his hand through his hair. While he would never try to tell Hermione who she could or couldn't see – knowing she would probably hex him for even thinking he could do such a thing – Fred hated seeing Hermione in other men's arms. He hated that they had to keep their relationship quiet. Ron seemed to have moved on and Mrs Weasley had all but dropped the topic of Ron and Hermione getting together. Hermione was still nervous though and Fred was prepared to wait, knowing how important it was to her.

As the night progressed, it seemed no matter where Fred looked, he saw Hermione chatting with their old school friends and being flirted at by Neville – he was always getting her drinks, laughing at her jokes and doing all he could to keep her attention. At other gatherings both he and Hermione had attended, Fred had cheekily flirted with her, making her blush and squirm. Tonight, however, he kept away, not trusting himself not to say anything. Fred felt as though he was going mad.

Fred's head whipped around as he heard Hermione laugh. She stood with a group and all of them laughed uproariously. Fred only saw Hermione though; her joy seemed to fill the room.

As her laughter slowed, Hermione spotted Fred staring at her. Her grin faulted for a moment before she smiled at him, her cheeks slightly rosy. Fred simply looked away and downed the rest of his firewhiskey in his glass, disappearing down the hall.

Hermione felt the smile slide off her face as Fred turned away from her. What had she done to upset him? By now, he normally would have come and spoken to her, flirting and joking with her. Tonight, however, he hadn't spoken to her and had barely looked her way. Was he truly annoyed that she'd said they'd had to attend the party? It was his party – he had to be here.

"Excuse me a moment," Hermione said, walking from the group to follow Fred. "Fred?" she called, peering down the corridor.

"Hermione?" he replied, his voice confused. Fred was leaning against the wall, breathing deeply. "What're you doing?"

"Coming to see you," Hermione said. The nerves that had exploded in Fred's stomach settled. He didn't know why he'd felt so nervous – he'd seen Hermione laugh thousands of times, caused her to laugh thousands of times. Yet she hadn't stayed with the people who'd made her laugh, she'd come to see him. "What's wrong?" she asked, standing close to him. Fred pulled Hermione into his arms, debating how to phrase how he was feeling.

"I hate that I can't hold you and kiss you out there. You're my girlfriend and… I want to be like that with you. In public, not just tucked away in one of our flats," he murmured, holding Hermione tightly. He felt her tense in his arms before relaxing again. She pulled away, looking up at Fred.

"Soon, Fred, I promise. I just… I don't want to ruin this. You make me so happy and I don't want others to ruin it," Hermione said, staring deep into Fred's eyes. Fred nodded, understanding what Hermione meant. It would be hard; their relationship had been so private, having people being involved would be so different and difficult.

"I can wait," Fred said, tucking a strand of Hermione's still wild hair behind her ear. "Since I can't kiss you at midnight, I better kiss you now…" Fred murmured, leaning forward to press his lips against Hermione's. She slid her hands into his hair as his arms tightened around her waist. He would never get tired of kissing her.

"Oi, Fred- woah," George's voice caused Fred and Hermione to jump apart. Fred kept his arms around her, resting his forehead against hers.

"What's up, George?" Fred asked, looking to his twin.

"You seemed upset before. I thought I'd come and see what was wrong. I now see you're feeling better," George joked. He wiggled his eyebrows at Hermione, whose cheeks grew rosy. George then disappeared back into the living area, rejoining the party.

"We'd better get back out there," Hermione murmured. She longed to be with Fred, to stay with him and keep kissing him. She pressed a light kiss to his lips. "You go out first; I'm going to check my make up,"

"You don't need to, 'Mione. You always look beautiful," Fred replied. Hermione smiled at him, her stomach flipping. She'd never thought Fred would be romantic when they first started seeing one another. She was glad she was wrong though; Fred's sweet comments and gestures still made her knees weak. Fred made his way to the end of the corridor. "Hopefully there's no lipstick on my face," Fred called as Hermione let herself into the bathroom. She grinned, knowing they'd be in trouble if there was.

Hermione returned to the party a few minutes later. Her eyes immediately swept the room and she spied Fred chatting with Lee, Katie and Angelina again. She quickly made her way back to her friends.

"You okay, Hermione?" Neville asked once she returned to the group. He had kept close to Hermione since she'd arrived; while she didn't mind his company, it had made disappearing to see Fred a bit more difficult.

"Yeah, of course," she replied, flashing him a smile. Neville grinned in return, much more confident than he had been in their school days.

* * *

"Alright everyone – 30 seconds until midnight!" George yelled over the noise of the party. Everyone cheered and George turned the sound up on the wireless, the countdown on the station now telling everyone there was 15 seconds.

Hermione looked across the room to Fred, who stood with George and Lee. She thought back to what he'd said – she did hate that they couldn't kiss at midnight. Fred felt her eyes on him and glanced to her, smiling.

"10… 9… 8…" Hermione looked away from Fred, joining in the countdown. "4… 3… 2… 1 – Happy New Year!" everyone in the flat cheered. Hermione saw Harry and Ginny embrace and kiss, saw Ron pull Luna into his arms and felt herself be pulled into Neville's arms. She hugged him tightly. As they broke apart, Hermione noticed Neville kept his arms around her waist. She looked at him, confused as to what he was doing. Neville looked into her eyes for a moment before leaning in and kissing her. Hermione froze as Neville kissed her. One of his arms stayed around her waist while his other hand tangled in her hair.

"Get off my girlfriend!" came a loud yell before Hermione could process what was happening any further. The room fell silent and Neville jumped back from Hermione. Fred stood metres from them, breathing heavily and looking furious.

"Girlfriend?" "What?" "When?" came numerous voices.

"Fred!" Hermione said, feeling her stomach drop as she registered what Fred had said.

"You two are dating?" Neville asked, his face rosy red.

"Fuck… Hermione, I'm so sorry," Fred murmured, reaching out to her. She stared at him, her eyes wide. She could understand why he'd yelled out – seeing him kissing another women would have driven her mad.

"It's okay," she replied quietly, taking his hand. Fred stepped closer to her.

"Fred, Hermione, what's going on?" Ginny asked. Nearly everyone's attention was still on them and George and Lee were edging closer to the scene.

"Hermione and I have been dating for the past month and a half," Fred said, barely looking to his sister as he was so focused on Hermione. He knew how important it was to her for them to wait longer before revealing their relationship. "Hermione, are you okay?" he said, his arm going around her waist. She nodded, looking up and smiling at him.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you," she said, looking at the group. Her eyes landed on Ron. He looked shocked. His arms were still around Luna, who had knowing smile on her face. "I didn't know how you would react and I didn't want to upset you," Ron nodded, knowing Hermione largely spoke to him. There was a moment of silence and Hermione dreaded everyone's reaction. Fred's heart also pounded, despite the relief he felt at their relationship no longer being secret.

"Congratulations!" Harry said, walking over to embrace his best friend. Hermione grinned widely, so glad Harry was so accepting. This caused everyone to break from their shocked or surprised trance and either congratulate the couple or go back to celebrating the New Year.

Hermione had been pulled aside by Ginny, who was now nagging her for all the details of how she and Fred got together. Hermione blushed madly, not wanting to tell Ginny exactly how she and Fred had begun seeing one another.

"Hermione?" came a quiet voice. Hermione turned to see Neville standing beside her, looking abashed. Hermione swallowed hard, not sure what to say. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you. I just… I've always wanted to," Neville smiled awkwardly, his cheeks growing red. "I've always had a small crush on you," Hermione smiled kindly at Neville.

"It's okay Neville," she said. "You can't hold onto those feelings forever though," Neville nodded. Hermione looked around Fred and George's flat, her eyes landing on Hannah Abbott. An idea began to form in her mind. "Why don't you go and talk to Hannah? I bet you two would hit it off," Hermione said. Neville looked over to Hannah too, his brows furrowed. Before either of them could say anymore, Fred appeared beside Hermione, his arms going around her waist. Hermione looked up at him smiling, loving that he could hold her in public now. Harry, Ginny, Ron and George also joined them, chatting happily. Fred pressed a kiss to Hermione's forehead before she was pulled aside by Ginny again. He then faced Neville, who looked at him a little nervously.

"Don't make me turn into canary again, Longbottom," he said with a grin.


End file.
